


Submersion

by BreakfastTea



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Hurt Mac, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Jack taking care of his boy, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25021774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BreakfastTea/pseuds/BreakfastTea
Summary: After a successful mission, Mac just has to cross a frozen lake to get back to Jack.Except the ice keeps cracking underfoot......and someone's chasing Mac.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 115





	Submersion

**Author's Note:**

> Um, hi! I'm Breakfast Tea and this idea came to me after I spent basically all of last week watching the entirety of MacGyver. Forgive me in advance if things are a little out of character.

Mac wouldn’t say he was prone to homesickness. Sure, there were things he loved about LA, things that were unique to the city, but he couldn’t say he longed for it when he was away.

Until now.

Right now.

This literal moment.

Because he was racing away from a lab across a frozen lake in the depths of the Canadian wilderness, colder than he’d ever been in his entire life. And he was including Siberia in that statement. Seriously. Nothing compared to how cold he was at this _very moment._ He longed for some California sunshine, probably because he’d lost his coat. Not to something useful, like a build (the only build required for this mission was the crampons he’d made for his boots out of masking tape and pilfered bread knives). He’d lost his coat in maybe, _maybe_ , the dumbest way ever.

A dog.

A freaking guard dog. It had taken one look at his coat and decided it was a chew toy. And seeing as it was standing between Mac and what he needed to do, he’d let the big, huge, extremely large-toothed dog keep the coat. Which meant now he had to get across the frozen lake surrounded by snowy trees to rendezvous with Jack without proper clothing.

“Take doggy treats next time,” Jack said over comms, laughing hard. “Honestly, man, did ya not think to grab a stick? Y’all could’ve played fetch.”

Mac chose not to answer. At least Jack had the Jeep waiting. And the Jeep had a heating system.

Except to make the journey even more miserable, a blizzard had kicked up while he’d infiltrated the remote lab. He’d swiped a laptop containing the computer program a group of homegrown terrorists had been working on in complete isolation from all known networks. Had they let it loose on the net, the ransomware would’ve allowed them to shut down every emergency service on Earth. Riley hadn’t been able to access it remotely, so they’d done the next best thing; broken in, stolen the computer it was on and uploaded one of Riley’s homebrewed viruses to wipe the lab’s servers in case they had backed it up. The group behind it had already been arrested before they could unleash the programme. That was why they had the necessary intel to find the lab: one programmer had agreed to disclose the location, explaining that if they didn’t retrieve the programme within twenty-four hours, other groups would break in and steal it.

It took Jack and Mac ten hours to go from briefing to boots on the ground. The snowy, icy, frozen ground. Mac went into the lab while Jack covered the only road in and out. It meant Mac had to hike across snowy hills to reach the lab, but that was just a day out compared to most missions. This one had been straight-forward.

Except for the guard dog.

And the frozen lake he needed to run across to get back to Jack as fast as possible.

Oh, and now the blizzard. And sunset.

Cold. So, so, so cold.

Mac patted the waterproof case he had strapped to his chest. The laptop was in there, his flashlight stuck to it with thick strips of masking tape. He doubted the cold and the snow would do the machine any good. Riley had been very specific: get it to her in one piece, and under no circumstances could it be hooked up to any kind of internet connection. Not even dial up.

“How’s it going, Mac?” Jack’s warm tone called out over comms. “I’ve lost sight of you on the scope, so you better be alone. It’s all been quiet out here for me.”

With no sign of life in the lab, Jack had hung back on the other side of the lake, sniper rifle ready in case it went south. Not that it had. Satellite images said they were alone. Like seriously alone. Like miles upon miles of alone. Aside from the coat-stealing dog. They could call in an animal rescue team later.

“Please tell me the Jeep is warm,” Mac said. His teeth chattered, his words staccato.

“Yeah, yeah. Even got coffee in a flask with your name on it. That’s assuming I don’t drink it first because I am freezing my balls off out here.”

Mac laughed. He kept his eyes on the horizon. It was getting harder to see the treeline on the opposite shore. If he lost track of his directions out here, he was going to die. He thought about pulling his phone out and using the compass app to keep track, but that would mean taking off a glove, and there was no way he was gonna do that.

“I am so cold,” Mac mumbled.

“Hey, stay focused. Think warm thoughts,” Jack said.

“Mind over matter, right.”

“I hate to break up the party, but we’ve got bad news,” Matty’s voice cut in. A flash of jealousy washed through Mac. Matty, Riley and Bozer all got to stay nice and warm. How would they like it if they were the ones out here losing clothes to dogs? “We’ve got incoming.”

“How can you tell?” Jack asked. “I can’t see anything.”

“We’ve got a drone,” Matty said.

“Drone?” Mac asked.

“Satellite’s useless in a blizzard,” Riley said. “So I hacked a drone while you were in the lab and Bozer piloted it. It’s even got a heat vision! You are not as glowy white and red as you should be.”

“Nice work,” Mac said.

“Thanks,” Riley said, sounding proud.

“Looks like just the one incoming, riding a snowmobile,” Bozer said. “They’re coming after you, Mac. They’re not on the road, Jack. They’re coming across country. Looks like you left a trail for them to follow.”

No way would his footprints survive in this blizzard. “Looks like you’re not the only ones capable of picking up heat signatures,” Mac said.

“Whoever it is, they’re coming straight for you,” Matty said. She sounded tense. “Mac’s right; they have some kind of heat seeking tech.”

Heat seeking? He was still generating enough heat to be sought by a machine? “Guess I don’t have hypothermia yet.”

“Don’t even joke about it,” Bozer said.

“Keep moving, Mac. I’ll meet you halfway,” Jack said.

“No,” Mac said. “Stay where you are. Get the Jeep as close to the lake as you can. We’re gonna need a quick escape.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Alright, I’ll get it backed up.”

Mac picked up the pace, moving quicker across the ice. He felt it bend beneath him.

Then he heard the crack over the howl of the wind and snow.

A very, very big crack.

And another sound in the distance.

An engine. Definitely an engine. And not the growl of a Jeep.

“Oh, shit.”

“What? What is it?” Jack asked.

Matty answered for Mac. “Pick up the pace, blondie!”

He went as fast as he could, his makeshift crampons keeping him upright even as the ice underfoot grew ever more treacherous. It cracked beneath him, bowing under his weight. He couldn’t do anything about it right now; speed was everything.

“Mac?” Jack’s voice had a familiar edge to it. “Jeep’s good to go, where are you?”

“I’m running!”

“I’m coming to meet you!”

“Don’t! The ice isn’t stable, Jack! It’s – ”

He heard another loud crack.

Mac didn’t have a chance to save himself.

The ice broke beneath him.

Mac plunged into the frozen water. Agonising cold shocked the air from his body. He kicked back to the surface, gasping for air. His training kicked in and he forced himself to control his breathing, fighting against his stunned chest muscles. Turning to face the way he’d fallen in, he grabbed the ice, arms flat and outstretched, and kicked his legs.

No good. He needed something else. Something to grip the ice with.

Reaching down, he pulled the blades off his boots, gripped them in rapidly numbing hands, and dug them into the ice. Great. Now he had something to help drag himself out of the ice and…

That was when it hit him.

His chest was on the ice.

Which meant he no longer had the case containing the laptop.

He turned and looked into the water.

Saw his flashlight shining in the depths.

Still strapped to the laptop case.

Goddammit. Mac dragged himself out of the water. This was a problem. A problem without an immediate solution.

Well… Maybe there was a solution…

“Mac? Mac!” Everyone shouted at him, their voices all frantic.

It took him a few attempts to speak. “Yeah, I’m here.” Colder than ever, but alive. It felt like his clothes were already freezing to his body. He had to pause for breath, bent double.

“Stay right there!” Jack bellowed. “I am coming.”

No point not telling the others what was wrong. “I gotta get the laptop.”

“Whoa, whoa, whaddya mean?” Jack demanded.

“I dropped it.”

“Pick it up!”

Mac sighed. “In the water. I dropped it in the water.”

“Leave it!”

“He can’t!” Riley said. “We can’t risk anyone else getting it. I need that laptop to write anti-virus software. Ransomware like that could disable healthcare, law enforcement, fire departments, militaries. We can’t just leave it out there.”

“We’ll figure something out. We’ll come back with a fishing rod!” Jack said. “No way is anyone going diving in ice water!”

“I can do it,” Mac said. He’d had training to cope with sudden plunges into cold water. That was how he’d known how to get back out after all. It wasn’t even that deep here. He just needed to swim down, grab the laptop bag, and swim back up.

“No way, Mac!” Bozer cried out. “You live in California! Ice is your kryptonite. Jack’s right. Come back for it later.”

“We can’t. If one person’s already here, more will be on the way,” Mac said.

“And we cannot risk it falling into the wrong hands,” Matty said. “Mac, if you think you can do this, do it. Jack, be ready to help him.”

“I’m on it,” Mac said.

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!” Jack said.

Mac didn’t have time for Jack’s well-meaning concern. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it. Just get here, okay? I’m gonna need your help afterwards.”

“Dammit, Mac! Matty, you can’t – ”

The sound of the snowmobile closed in, distracting Mac from all the yelling. Mac looked over his shoulder. He still couldn’t see it. Good. He had time. And with Jack incoming, Mac knew he didn’t have to worry about whoever was after him. Jack could deal with it.

Mac didn’t waste any more time. He had a basic understanding of freediving. He’d taken a few surfer safety courses in his time too. He needed to pack his lungs with oxygen, swim down and stay calm. Really calm. Freediving relied on a lot of self-control.

The voices screaming in his ears weren’t helping. “Guys!” he shouted, wishing his voice wasn’t still quaking from the cold. “Shut up for a minute!”

Silence. Immediately.

“Thank you. I got this. Just don’t distract me.”

Mac emptied and filled his lungs several times, flooding himself with oxygen. At least he was already freezing cold. The water wouldn’t shock him so much this time.

He needed to swim fast before his muscles locked up.

Lungs packed full to bursting point, Mac jumped back into the water and swam. He kept his blurry gaze locked onto the light, keeping his strokes slow and steady. The lake wasn’t deep here, maybe nine feet, and he fished the bag off the bottom easily enough. Turning, he kicked off the lakebed. He swam back to the surface. With the case in his arms, he could only use his legs, and his muscles burned with the strain and the cold. Chunks of ice brushed past him, silt stirring up to make it so much darker. He didn’t let himself panic. He just had to go back the way he’d come.

Easy.

Except he really, really needed to breathe.

That wouldn’t be a great idea right now.

Surface. He needed to reach the surface _now_.

Instead, his head hit ice. Solid, definitely unbroken ice.

Panic shot through him. He almost lost control, almost took a breath. A contraction tugged on his lungs, body begging for oxygen. Calm. Calm down. Holding the laptop under his left arm, he used his right to stretch out over the ice. Nothing. Nothing. There! Behind him. His gloved fingers closed over the gaping hole he’d fallen through. See? No need to freak out. He’d swum off course.

Pulling himself through the ice, Mac broke through, heaving air into his lungs. He couldn’t fill them fast enough. He could hardly breathe. His ribs seemed frozen in place. Or, rather, the muscles in his chest had. Black spots bloomed across his vision. He couldn’t get enough air. He was going to black out. His thoughts slowed down. He needed… needed to…

Laptop. Save the laptop.

He wrenched the bag out of the water, tossing it onto the ice.

Laptop saved.

Next?

Sleep?

No, no, no, before that. Out. He had to get out. He was really gonna die if he didn’t get out the water.

Blurry, waterlogged voices sounded in his ear. He couldn’t hear whatever the others were saying, not now his earpiece was so waterlogged.

The cold steadily shut down his thinking and his body. He tried kicking, but his legs were done. Finished. He couldn’t find the strength. It took everything he had to hold his arms out flat on the ice.

It was still blizzarding.

Or maybe his eyes were fuzzy. It wasn’t like he could feel the snow hitting him anymore.

He could hear an engine coming.

Snowmobile.

Coming.

Whoever chased him was about to find him.

Shit. A faint spurt of adrenaline flushed through him. He kicked his legs, tried to find the strength in his arms to pull himself out.

Blurry shape. Emerging from the snow.

Jack?  
  
The person chasing him?

He couldn’t tell. His vision faded. Grey to black to…

* * *

Jack heard a splash. It was still way too far away for comfort. Anxiety tore into him. Mac was tough, but humans weren’t designed to survive temperatures like this for long. Especially not when they were dripping wet.

“Drone images show Mac’s heat signature is fading fast!” Riley’s anxious voice filled Jack’s head.

“Get to him, Jack!” Matty ordered. “And don’t forget you’ve got incoming.”

“Yeah, incoming that’s gonna reach Mac first,” Bozer added.

“On it!”

Jack’s boots skidded over the ice, his legs nearly performing the splits. Oh yeah, he was gonna feel that later.  
  
Jack didn’t slow down. He raced across the ice even as it cracked and popped beneath him, listening to Bozer direct him to the other heat signature on their drone feed.

“Can you still see Mac?” he asked.

“Yeah, but he’s not as warm as he should be. I can’t tell if he’s moving,” Bozer said. His voice was tight with panic. “And the other one is right on top of him!”

Jack picked up the pace. He had the rifle strapped to his back, the stock banging against his shoulders. Mac. He had to get to Mac.

The blizzard swirled around him, cutting his vision down so much he almost skidded right into the unknown attacker. A woman, clad in thick black winter clothes. She had a helmet on, the visor covering her face. She had the laptop case in her hands.

Mac was still in the water, his head, shoulders and arms the only things keeping him on the ice. The woman put her foot on his shoulder.

Pushed.

Jack swung the rifle off his back. “You better back off and put down that or you’re gonna die out here.”

She looked up without moving her foot. She pushed a little harder. Jack heard ice snapping as Mac’s body slid backwards. He was up to his chin in the water. The cold wasn’t bringing him around.

“Stop!” Jack ordered.

“No.” The woman dropped the laptop.

And pulled out a gun.

Jack fired. The rifle blast cracked across the ice, blotting out the sound of the blizzard. The woman fell back, blood exploding from her chest. There wasn’t a bullet proof vest in the world that could withstand a rifle shot.

“Jack?” Matty’s voice cut across the reverb of the shot.

Feeling the instability of the ice beneath him, Jack threw himself down to spread his weight. He grabbed Mac, hauling him back onto the relative safety of solid(ish) ice. “I’ve got Mac. He’s out.” 

“And the laptop?” Matty asked.

Jack spotted it beside the dead woman. “Yeah, got the laptop.”

“Good. Get to exfil asap.”

Jack’s fingers sought out Mac’s pulse. His skin was icy cold to the touch. It took a few seconds, but Jack felt it. He pulled in a deep breath. Mac’s heartrate was slow, his breathing barely registering, but he was alive. Jack pushed Mac’s frozen hair back from his forehead. “You’re not dying on me this easily.”

The blizzard howling around them, Mac’s sodden clothes steadily froze. Jack shook him, trying to wake him. It was no good. Mac was deeply unconscious.

“Not a problem,” Jack said, more to comfort himself than Mac. Swinging the rifle back over his shoulder, Jack carefully dragged Mac to the snowmobile. “We got ourselves a ride here. We’re gonna be outta here in no time.”

Mac didn’t conveniently awaken with a snappy response.

“Making it hard for me as usual,” Jack said. “Not everything needs to be a challenge, man.”

Mac had nothing to add.

Plucking the laptop case off the ice as he went, Jack managed to get Mac onto the snow mobile, pinning him between the handlebars and his own body. It was awkward, but with Mac unconscious, there was no other choice.

Engine on, laptop stowed, Jack moved the snowmobile. He had to keep a slower speed than he wanted; it was awkward enough with Mac slumped against him. Plus with the ice so unstable, he knew they were at very real risk of sinking. Any faster and he could upset their very delicate balance. Jack’s mind whirled into action, running over hypothermia treatments as fast as he could. They had a three hour drive back to the airfield where the jet waited for them. No way would Mac survive that in his soaking wet clothes. At least the Jeep had an emergency kit aboard.

“You’re gonna be okay,” Jack said. “You hear me?”

“We’ll get medics on standby at the jet,” Matty said. “It’s our best option. You’re a long way from a hospital out there.”

“We’ll be there,” Jack said. “Tell them it’s a severe case of hypothermia.”

“I’m on it,” Riley said.

“Is the drone showing any more incoming?” Jack asked.

“No, you’re clear,” Bozer said. “Just get the hell out of there.”

“On it.”

Back at the Jeep he’d left on the water’s edge, Jack left Mac slumped over the snowmobile’s handles while he threw open the back door, flattened the rear seats, and tore open the emergency kit. He used the blankets to make a bed and tore open the heat pads. Returning to Mac, Jack stripped him of his sodden clothes until he was as naked as the day he was born.

“Sorry man, but we gotta warm you up. You’ll die in those clothes.”

Not that Mac was shy about his body. Neither was Jack. Army life left little room for that. Tossing the sodden clothes aside, stopping only to rescue one Swiss Army Knife, Jack got Mac in the back of the Jeep, swaddling him with the blankets and heat packs. 

“It’s gonna be okay,” he said. “You’re gonna be fine. Just gotta thaw you out.”

Jumping into the driver’s seat and gunning the engine, Jack turned up the heat. He shed his own outer layers to keep himself from overheating, using them as extra blankets for Mac. He could cope with a bit of sweat if it kept Mac alive.

“Alright, we are moving out,” Jack said. “ETA to the jet is three hours.” He wanted to drive faster, but it’d be suicide in this weather.

“They’ll be ready for you,” Matty said.

* * *

Cold. He was so cold. It was like a living thing, burrowing through his veins. He hurt too. Ached. His feet and hands pulsed. What was wrong with him?

He could hear something. A steady hum. Engine? Sounded familiar. The jet? He tried opening his eyes. They were as good as glued shut.

Something landed on his head. Stroked gently. He heard something else. A voice maybe. The words were warped, like his head was still underwater.

Forget it. He couldn’t surface. He sank back into the darkness.

“Mac?”

A familiar voice pulled him out of the dark. The humming sound wasn’t there anymore. In its place was a beeping. A slow, steady beeping. And voices. Quiet voices.

And he was warm now. Wonderfully, blissfully warm.

“You with us?”

Mac opened his eyes.

“Hey, there he is.”

Jack’s blurry face filled his vision. Mac stared at him, blinking hard. His brain wouldn’t connect his thoughts to his mouth.

“I know, you’re overwhelmed by my beauty,” Jack said with a grin.

Mac managed a small smile.

“Atta boy,” Jack said. “Stay with us, okay?”

Jack stepped back and other faces shifted into focus. Bozer was there, as was Riley. There were two other blurs in the distance; one that was definitely Matty, the other who was probably some kind of medical professional.

So, back at the Phoenix. Not that he had the slightest idea how he’d gotten here. His memory was a blank, and he was too drained to think hard enough to fill it in.

“How you feeling?” Bozer asked.

It took Mac a moment to dig up some words. “Tired. Thirsty.”

“Thirsty we can cure,” Riley said. She held up a cup with a straw sticking out.

“Thanks,” Mac said, falling back against the pillows. He was exhausted.

“Good news is your core temperature is back at non-Macsicle levels,” Jack said.

Bozer snorted. Riley sighed.

“Macsicle?” Mac echoed.

“Yeah man, you were frozen. Like Han in carbonite frozen!” Jack said.

Mac couldn’t summon the energy to think of everything wrong with that. “The laptop?” he asked instead.

“You got it to us,” Riley said. “We’ve got a team working on antivirus software.”

“Great.” Because computer programming was _not_ Mac’s strength. Staying awake wasn’t really his strength right now either. “How’d I get here?”

“Medics met us at the jet,” Jack said. “Hooked you up to a warming IV, oxygen, packed you up in a blanket burrito, and sent us on our merry way.”

“Mmm, burritos,” Bozer said.

“I could go for burritos,” Riley added.

“You are under strict bed rest orders,” Matty said, walking over with the doctor.

Mac let his eyes close. Bed rest. Yes ma’am, he could do that. No one would hear an argument from him.

“And thank you,” Matty said. “You took a huge risk to complete this mission.”

Mac nodded. He couldn’t manage anything else. She was welcome. Everyone was welcome.

“So no more swims in subzero weather,” Jack said.

Mac totally agreed. He wanted to request a permanent break from missions involving snow and ice, but that would probably be pushing it.

“Okay people, there’s work to be done and blondie here needs his sleep,” Matty said.

“Right.” Riley clapped her hands together. “Programs to write. Burritos to order. See you later, Mac.”

Bozer patted Mac’s leg. “Feel better man.”

Jack pulled his chair up to Mac’s bedside and leaned back. “Hope you didn’t think I was going anywhere.”

Mac hadn’t expected anything different. And he was too tired to tell his friend to leave. Being awake for a few minutes sapped what little energy he had.

“We sent an animal rescue unit in after the dog,” Jack said. “Told them to take tranquillizers. Remind me to send you the photo they sent later. The dog was all tuckered out, cuddled up in your coat.”

How long had he been here? Mac wanted to ask, but it was too lengthy a question. One for later. He blinked, fighting to get his lids to open again.

“Sleep, Mac. Consider it an order,” Matty said. “We’ll see you when you’re feeling better.”

Mac didn’t need telling twice. Eyes closed, he let sleep wrap itself around him. Footsteps faded away. He was on the precipice when a hand closed around his, squeezing gently.

“I gotcha, kiddo. Rest.”

Squeezing back, Mac succumbed to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me over on [Tumblr](https://breakfastteatime.tumblr.com/) :D
> 
> If anyone's interested, I was inspired by the game The Long Dark for the location of this fic. It's set in the Canadian wilderness. The game comes highly recommended from me ^_^


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